


Light of the Galaxy

by thekingoftrash



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Dialogue Heavy, Gen, Hurt Shiro (Voltron), Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Mild Language, Poisoning, Shiro (Voltron)-centric, The team saves Shiro, honestly nothing much happens, mild violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-05
Updated: 2017-10-05
Packaged: 2019-01-09 06:28:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,308
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12270789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thekingoftrash/pseuds/thekingoftrash
Summary: Sometimes, it's the aftermath of freeing a planet that gets you.ORShiro's hurt, Hunk's helpful, and Lance and Keith argue over the proper grammar usage of quiznak.





	Light of the Galaxy

_“-on’t you fucking_ **_dare_ ** _let go!”_

 

_“-iro!”_

 

_“He’s goi…fall!”_

 

_“Somebody get to him!”_

 

Shiro groaned, wincing at the tinny and vaguely muffled sounds - though it sounded more like multiple people were screaming at him - reverberating in his eardrums, intensifying the pounding sensation in his head. He didn’t even remember getting a headache, but nonetheless, it felt like someone was squeezing and stretching his brains as though it was putty, and any noise just seemed to make that worse. Unfortunately, there were lots of sounds. The ringing in his ears, the desperate screaming that sounded simultaneously a million miles away and right next to him, screeching metal, pounding and what sounded like extremely heavy items crashing into one another..

 

….

 

Wait.

 

That didn’t make sense.

 

Screaming? There wasn’t supposed to be any of that. While he certainly felt out of it, Shiro knew for a fact that nobody should be screaming - he was supposed to protect. Screaming meant bad things. Protecting meant good. And there was screaming, which meant that he was failing at his job.

 

Shiro slowly peeled his eyes open warily, although that proved to be a feat in and of itself. He could only make out extremely blurry and vaguely distinctive shapes, but trying to move his eyes or head at all sent the world spinning and his stomach lurching.

 

He tried to blink the bleariness away, and while it barely seemed to help him restore his vision, he was able to see just a bit more clearer, but the sight before him made his heart freeze.

 

His view of the world was tilted, but he noticed that he was in a building of some sort. It sort of reminded him of the skyscrapers back on Earth, but a lot of it was just slightly different - enough for Shiro to know that he was currently on some alien planet.

 

Except it wasn’t just him; he could see flashes of green and red slashing at something, wisps of blue and yellow running in his direction. The whole area, however, was in absolute shambles. The tower seemed to have been split in half, alarmingly large cracks digging through the floor, and the side that Shiro was on was tilted at an extremely dangerous angle. The ceiling above them didn’t fare any better, and the center of it seemed to have caved in, dividing the place even more. The blue and yellow… lights? Wisps? Were stopped on their tracks as something fell in front of them, smoke billowing around it. Because of his angle, Shiro couldn’t see how far this floor of the building was through the windows, but he was willing to bet it would be enough to kill him.

 

If that wasn’t bad enough, the entire building was on fire. It wasn’t quite the same as the fire back on Earth, but it was close enough to get the gist. Purple and angry violet flared violently all around, and Shiro could feel the heat radiating and making it feel like he was in a sauna, despite being at least a few yards away from the closest spot the fire was. The smoke that radiated from it seemed to be heavier than what he was used to, the opaque haze settling visibly along the ground, making it nearly impossible to see if it weren’t for his helmet.

 

And that left the part that had Shiro most alarmed: the center of his side of the wall had collapsed, leaving Shiro dangling from a ledge with no protection if he fell. The only reason he hadn’t fallen to his death while unconscious was because his right arm was pinned down by a large piece of fallen ceiling that balanced between both sides of the collapsing tower, and he realized it was likely that a smaller piece had fallen with it and knocked him out.

 

Shiro screwed his eyes shut, partly to keep the smoke from burning his eyes, and another part trying to remember what landed him in this situation in the first place. He furrowed his brows in concentration.

 

The… the Bliel'ea… The Bliel’ea... had sent the Castle of Lions a distress signal. Right. Pidge and Coran had done a quick bit of research which showed that their planet, though relatively small, had fruits from a certain type of tree that.. Had quintessence. Lots of it, compared to the size. Their planet was right on the outskirts of Zarkon’s current command, but they had feared the worst, and so they went over to investigate. Sure enough, a few transport and fighter ships were already in the planet’s atmosphere…

 

Did they fail…?

 

...No. They formed Voltron and defeated the ships, and then the high council members of Echoria had gratefully invited them over to one of their buildings to talk about joining Voltron’s Alliance. Everyone had gathered on the fourth floor, and then… And then Shiro was invited up to the seventeenth floor, in place of Allura, who was manning the Castle of Lions. Things had gone smoothly, and one minute he was chatting with the Bliel’ea, and the next thing he knew, he was like this.

 

Had it been a trap?

 

Shiro gritted his teeth, shaking his head ever so slightly before remembering that doing so would send waves of pain through him, trying to ward off the thoughts. Whatever happened, he could think about it later, when his life _wasn’t_ in imminent danger. Or the paladins’ lives, for that matter.

 

The paladins…

 

_The paladins!_

 

With a slight gasp, Shiro immediately opened his eyes, examining the wreckage as best he could, trying to make out any of his teammates, which proved to be a borderline impossible task with the smoke amount increasing since he last came to. What had happened to them? He completely forgot about them - oh no. What if the building had collapsed from the bottom, and they were all crushed? What if they were trapped, like him? What if they were dying from smoke inhalation? A million thoughts were running through his head, each one making him edge closer and closer to panic, and he could feel his breaths becoming rapid and shallow and oh god he was such an awful leader what if they were all dead what if what if what if what if-

 

“-iro!”

 

“Calm down, it’s okay-”

 

“-eep breaths, we only have so much oxygen right now, come on-”

 

Shiro took a deep, raspy breath, before a frown took over his features. Those tinny sounds were back, except a bit louder this time, much to his dismay. Honestly, what was even causing that? He didn’t think that head injuries could cause you to hear something close to ringing but not quite, but that was the only explanation for this. Except it really didn’t sound like ringing, but more like…

 

...Like voices.

 

Belatedly, Shiro remembered that he had his helmet on, which meant if the others did as well, then they could communicate with him (or at least try).

 

Shiro licked his lips in a feeble attempt to moisten his mouth before speaking. He couldn’t hear the voices anymore, but it was likely that they were trying to keep from overcrowding him.

 

“Team? You there?” He croaked, and he almost couldn’t believe that he was the one to make such a sound. But with the amount of smoke he must have inhaled and his minor panic attack, it was no wonder it sounded like someone had clawed up his throat, tried to bandage it, and then set the bandages on fire, charring whatever remained of his vocal cords.

 

The response was immediate and overwhelming. With concentration, he easily picked out Hunk’s massive sigh of relief, Pidge calling out that they’re all alive and relatively safe, Lance flaunting that he’d save Shiro soon and that he should just sit tight, and Keith’s demand that he better not fall before they can get to him, or else he’ll get a massive ass kicking in the future.

 

Even with Keith’s threat and the prospect that Lance seemed to be hell-bent on being the one to save Shiro like a damsel in distress, he could already feel some of the tension release from his shoulders, although the tugging feeling on his right side brought up another subject.

 

Mostly, that he was still pinned under a massive block of what seemed like a concrete-esque metal, the smoke was threatening to choke them all to death, and with his world tilting a bit less every time he even blinked, he easily noticed that his side of the divide was extremely close to breaking. Fortunately (or unfortunately, perhaps), the others were on the much more stable side, so at least if Shiro’s side _did_ end up falling before he could be rescued, he’d be the only one to die.

 

That was a bit of a bleak outcome, though. The one Shiro favored most was the outcome where nobody died or even got seriously injured, but the shrill screeching of metal separating just a bit more made him wonder how likely that outcome would come to be.

 

“Shit, this isn’t good,” a voice - Keith, he was pretty sure, muttered quietly. Then, a bit louder, “Shiro? You’re holding onto something, right? If you can run up to where this stupid building is dividing, then I think Hunk or I could grab you. There’s a spot where we don’t have to risk getting burned, but we have to hurry,” he spouted off, and much to Shiro’s dismay, he could hear the slightest edge of desperation in his voice. If Keith, of all people, felt desperate or scared in a situation, then Shiro knew that it was dire.

 

Shiro stared at his right arm, thinking of a response. Maybe he could unpin his arm himself, without having to worry the others further... It was mostly crushed by the debris up until the point where the metal met flesh, though there was a small gap where he could see about half of his prosthetic. It didn’t look to be terribly damaged, which was a relief, but he also couldn’t feel anything from it, which had Shiro a bit worried. He still had nerves and muscle and bone in it, so the fact that it was crushed should be sending him through waves of pain, except it seemed to be the complete opposite.

 

He then lifted his natural hand, which had been hanging uselessly by his side this whole time, and tried to reach out as far as he could, clawing at anything that would hold. He managed to take a hold of a very small crevice, tiny and shallow, but he figured that it was better than nothing. Then, with as much strength as he could muster, he tried to move his right arm.

 

And Shiro screamed.

 

It was more like a choke, with the smoke filling his lungs and fueling them like a furnace, setting his chest on fire. Black spots danced around his vision, though he couldn’t be sure if that was from the smoke or sheer amount of pain he was in, and the stump of his right arm screamed in protest. He felt like a terribly stitched together teddy bear tearing at the seams, threatening to completely rip away if he made tugged just a tad too hard. It wasn’t just his arm, though - his right shoulder and back wailed in agony, trying its best to support both his arm and his body weight, causing him to slip down just ever so slightly. Which, in turn, made the pain worse.

 

He gritted his teeth and tried to pull himself up as much as he could with his left arm, trying to shift most of his weight onto it. His vision was starting to twist and turn around like a carnival ride gone mad again, but much to his relief, the pain was starting to subside, if only a little bit. He took a few deep breaths in an attempt to clear his head, but it only left him coughing, the pounding in his head once again returning. He needed to get some real oxygen, and _soon_.

 

“Shiro?! What happened?” Hunk’s worried voice shifted Shiro’s thoughts back to reality, and he grimaced when he realized that they would have been able to hear his screams of pain. Truly a great leader, needlessly worrying his team because of an admittedly stupid idea. Maybe whatever knocked him out was leading to a concussion. Or the lack of oxygen was starting to slow his thoughts down and make him consider things his sane mind never would. Either way, it was alarming.

 

“I’m fine,” he choked out, coughing once again. “I just…” He glanced over at his pinned arm once again, weighing the pros and cons of admitting that he was helpless. He didn’t want to concern his team with something trivial, but this obviously was not, so he swallowed down his stupidly large balloon of a pride, almost wishing he could pop it before he spoke again.

 

“I… I don’t think I can get out of this myself. My right arm’s pinned, and my left can only find a small ledge to hold onto. The most I can do is try to keep from falling from error on my side,” he mustered out, hoping that his voice, croaky and awful sounding as it was, at least seemed mostly level-headed and definitely not panicked by the possibility of imminent death. The last thing he needed was everyone - Hunk especially - freaking out and doing something that’d endanger themselves.

 

“So.. you’re not fine, is what you’re saying.” Pidge replied flatly, and though he couldn’t see her, Shiro knew that she had an eyebrow raised with an unimpressed frown on her face. Though, he supposed that was one thing he appreciated about Pidge - much like her brother, she didn’t take bullshit, and had no qualms about calling someone out on it. Even if said person was her leader.

 

“Yeah, sure,” Shiro replied in what he had hoped to be in a joking tone, but came out more like an equally as unimpressed retort, and he winced just slightly. Yeah, he really needed to turn on his oxygen dispenser his helmet had soon. The only saving grace was that his helmet was already doing an alright job protecting his lungs, and whatever smoke this fire was from didn’t seem to be nearly as deadly as the kind back on Earth.

 

This time, it was Lance who interjected. “Okay, so… I don’t know if you guys have noticed, but we’re _reaaalllyy_ running out of time here. Like, this thing is _not_ gonna hold-” as if on cue, the whole building shuddered slightly, and Shiro had to tighten his grip to keep from slipping, wincing as the entire floor shifted to an even more dangerous angle. A little bit more time and Shiro knew that he’d either stumble and fall, or the giant block of metal would crush him into a paladin shaped pancake. Neither options were desirable.

 

Someone cleared their throat - Lance, he realized, and then continued. “ _As_ _I was saying_ , this is going to fall really soon and if we don’t get out of here before then, we’re going to go down with it. So let’s hurry up and grab Shiro, and get the quiznak out of here!”

 

“I don’t think you used that term correctly,” Keith said, a frown evident even in his voice. Shiro almost rolled his eyes, but he decided against it at the last tick to keep from irritating his vertigo even more.

 

“Uh, says _you_! You use quiznak every other sentence!” Lance retorted hotly, and this time Shiro bit back a groan. He made a mental note to force them into more one-on-one training matches together, once this was all over.

 

“I do _not-_ ”

 

“Yes you do-”

 

“Uh, guys?” Hunk volunteered timidly.

 

“Stop projecting your poor use of _quiznak_ on-”

 

“Oh, _MY_ projection? Excu-”

 

“GUYS, SERIOUSLY, STOP!” Hunk’s deep voice boomed over whatever screaming match Lance and Keith could have created, and for a tick, all the voices were stilled.

 

“Guys, can we argue, like, another time? Shiro’s life is in serious danger, and so is ours! And we need to find a way to get over and help him before this whole thing collapses! Because, if you haven’t noticed, we can’t exactly just jump on over and lift whatever’s got him pinned - I think it’s that massive boulder in the center. Which means we need a solution, and we need one _fast_.” He ended his ramble with a large and heavy breath, and Shiro felt his heart swell with pride and a bit of reassurance. Hunk, in the face of stress and a dangerous situation, was keeping everyone on track. He was changing, for the better.

 

“Hunk is right,” Pidge agreed, and he faintly heard her doing something that sounded an awful lot like typing. “We need to think of a plan. I’m trying to research the blueprints of this building, something helpful might pop up.” Ah, so she _was_ typing.

 

“Well then what do we do?” Lance asked, exasperation clear in his tone. Shiro could clearly picture Lance dramatically throwing his arms out, eyebrows raised so high that they almost disappeared into his hair entirely.

 

“I don’t know, just… think of something! Preferably someone other than Lance-”

 

“Hey!”

 

“Shut up. I wasn’t done talking. I’m trying to see if we can fly something…” Pidge’s voice drifted off, concentrated deeply on her work. There was silence for only a few ticks before someone snapped their fingers in what Shiro hoped was realization.

 

“I got it!” Keith said, a hint of excitement in his tone. Shiro raised a brow as he shifted his weight a bit, trying to stay as comfortable as he could in a situation like this. “We’ve got our jetpacks!” He continued, as though that explained everything. A quick glance - though it hurt every fiber of his being - showed that Shiro’s jetpack was downright busted, so he decided to intervene before Keith got any ideas.

 

“My jetpack got banged up by whatever hit me, so I don’t think I’ll be flying anywhere.” Shiro replied, swallowing down a cough that desperately wanted to escape.

 

“Well, that doesn’t matter, since we don’t need you for that,” Keith’s deadpan tone and wording made Shiro wince, but he stubbornly shook it off. Keith didn’t mean that Shiro was useless, and Shiro knew that. It was probably a good thing that Keith’s plan didn’t include Shiro needing to do much, all things considered.

 

“Lance, you got your jetpack?” Keith asked with an almost pressing tone, and he was pretty sure Lance nodded, judging by the rustling. “Yep. So do Hunk and Pidge.” He replied in an awfully cheery tone, as if he knew that Keith was getting at. Red flags were flaring up in Shiro’s head, but whatever they were conspiring, it probably wouldn’t be too dangerous. Right? Right.

 

“Pidge, do you have your bayard with you?” Keith then directed his attention towards Pidge, and Shiro swore he could see the deadpan look on her face. “Uh, _duh_. We were literally here to fight Galra monsters. Why wouldn’t I bring my bayard?” As if to prove her point, Shiro heard a bit of rustling, and then the slight whirring  sound that bayards made whenever they appeared. Keith hummed in acknowledgement.

 

“Great. Okay, here’s the plan. Pidge, you use your bayard and wrap it around the piece of concrete that has Shiro held down. Hunk, you’re going to grab onto Pidge, and put your strength to use by dragging it up as much as you can. That part of the area doesn’t have any fires, so Lance and I can use our jetpacks to grab Shiro and fly out with him, and then you two can join us. I think at this point, we might as well escape out the way that’s closest to Shiro,” Keith rattled off, and it took more concentration than Shiro would like to admit to understand what he was saying. Actually, he still didn’t totally get it, but he was nonetheless impressed by Keith’s leadership skills. Of course, there was a reason Shiro had picked Keith to be his second in command - these were just one of those moments that solidified it.

 

“That… could work, actually. Hopefully.” Pidge said, and there were mutual murmurs of agreement all around. Shiro would’ve liked to add his own thoughts, but he didn’t want to risk losing any more oxygen unless necessary. His inability to keep up with the conversation proved that he was slowly but surely losing time, and he didn’t want to increase that risk.

 

“..Okay. Let’s do it. Lance, Keith - just be careful with the jetpacks. Getting too close to the fire will be dangerous.” Pidge warned, but almost immediately after he saw a spark of green jut out from the darkness, quickly wrapping around the boulder, not unlike a snake with its prey. It was sparkly and bright, and so close to Shiro - it was mesmerizing, and he was almost tempted to touch it. _Almost._

 

“Shiro?” And like that, Shiro was once again brought back to reality. He hummed in reply, hoping that Keith would understand.

 

“I need you to hold onto that ledge with your left arm so that you don’t fall, okay? Lance and I will be there in a few ticks,” He said, his voice much softer than the tone he had not that long ago. Shiro nodded, before realizing that he couldn’t see that. Oops.  “Got it,” he muttered, this time unable to hold in the cough that was bursting in his chest. Maybe he was slipping more than he realized, because even without the smoke, Shiro noticed that his vision was starting to get hazy around the edges, and it took more effort than he remembered to tighten his left side’s grip.

 

“Alright, let’s do this!” Lance cheered, no doubt thinking of all the moments he’d be able to flaunt that he saved Shiro’s life.

 

“Ready? Heave… ho!” He heard a mix of Hunk and Pidge cry out, and, slowly but surely, the boulder shifted. A centimeter, and then another, and then an inch, a foot, and then suddenly it was high enough to release his arm. Shiro’s breath of relief was immediately taken over by a terrified gasp when the entire floor shifted, and started to drop dramatically. Oh, shit. Another large jump startled Shiro into accidentally letting go of the tiny crevice, and suddenly the floor and everything on it was starting to slide down, including Shiro.

 

He didn’t have much time to panic before two silhouettes emerged from the darkness, each grabbing at him, arms wrapping around his shoulders before pulling back with all their might. Shiro barely registered the pain as the silhouettes - Keith and Lance - first dragged him up and then backwards, and within a few ticks he had emerged from the darkness and was drowned in sunlight.

 

The shift was disorienting, but Shiro kept from reacting physically as best he could, still conscious enough to know that it was taking everything in Lance and Keith’s power - the jetpacks’, too, - to keep from dropping him like a stone. But still, Shiro had never felt more relieved. His eyes had adjusted slightly, and he was able to make out that they were now far away enough from the building to avoid getting hit by the fallen debris, and they were slowly descending, though he didn’t know if that was on purpose or because they simply couldn’t handle his weight.

 

Before long, Hunk and Pidge appeared, and the moment they spotted Shiro he noticed that their expressions relaxed dramatically. They each grabbed onto one of his legs, spanning him out like some sort of parachute as they descended towards the ground. Darkness was crawling around his vision like spiderwebs, and with every blink they seemed to increase. A couple of blinks later, and he was engulfed in darkness.

 

**_________________________________________________**

  


“Thanks, Coran, for all the help. I really appreciate it.”  Shiro said with gratefulness in his tone, even if the sideways glare he gave his now slinged prosthetic arm disagreed with that. He shifted his gaze upwards towards the Altean, who simply patted him on his good shoulder, though the corners of his mouth were shifted into a smile.

 

“Not a problem, Number One, don’t worry yourself none,” he replied cheerfully. “Just be sure to rest up for the next couple of days until Hunk and Pidge are able to take a look at your arm.” He continued, eyeing Shiro with a certain amount of seriousness at the prospect of resting, knowing that Shiro was a man to push himself past his limits.

 

Coran began to pack up the medical tools he had laid down on the table next to Shiro. Unlike the cold, metal medical examination table the tools and the others would get, Coran made sure to always lay down blankets for Shiro, to keep him from having flashbacks. He felt a twinge of appreciation as he rested his good hand on a warm blanket, staring down at it.

 

“Everything alright, Shiro?” A voice asked, and Shiro lifted his head to see the other paladins by the door. The voice had come from Keith, who looked a little worse for wear, but he had a small smile upon his face. They all did, actually. Shiro nodded his head at them, hoping that they would understand that they were welcome in. Apparently they did, because they began to file in, although they still stayed clustered by the entrance in an attempt to not overcrowd him.

 

“Hey guys,” he said softly, his esophagus still a bit raw and almost ticklish from the treatment Coran had practiced on him (which Shiro hoped to never, _ever_ do again).

 

“Glad to see you’re looking better.” Hunk replied with a quirk of his lips, the other two nodding in agreement. It looked like Lance wanted to say something, but both Pidge and Keith elbowed him on his sides, inflicting a groan which turned into a petulant whine.

 

“Uh, it’s nothing, really. I just… Coran, what happened, exactly? I feel like I’m missing some part of the story.” Shiro muttered, his grasp on the blanket tightening. Coran’s packing slowed to a stop before he raised his posture, twiddling his moustache thoughtfully.

 

“Well, what I presume to be a rogue of some sorts had planted a few bombs at the top and bottom floors. They exploded, of course, and the building collapsed and got set on fire.. Something about their building materials and the content of that bomb did not mix well. Injury wise, your right shoulder was dislocated, for starters. You got swelling and a minor concussion from blunt force trauma to the head. You lacked a dangerous amount of oxygen and blood flow to the brain, your lungs were congested from smoke inhalation, you got eye irritation from the smoke, you’ve got your fair share of albeit very minor burns just from being near that fire, a few minor cuts and scrapes, and half of your right arm is severely crushed.” He spouted off, each one turning the young paladins’ faces from more of a smile to looks of disbelief or horror.

 

Though he kept his expression neutral, Shiro felt  empathetic to their reactions. It was slightly disturbing to know just how much he put his poor body through, and he made a mental note to maybe try and treat it better. But something was still itching at him, scratching the back of his mind. Just enough to irritate him, but not enough to see what it was.

 

Shiro shook his head, furrowing his brows. “No, no, not that. There’s… a piece missing between when I was talking to the Bliel’ea and when I became conscious. What happened?” He pressed, casting his gaze towards Coran, whose expression darkened ever so slightly.

 

“Ah, _that_. Well, to be brief, the Bliel’ea poisoned you.” Coran stated matter-of-factly, although Shiro caught the fact that his grip on the tool he was holding tightened.

 

“They _poisoned_ Shiro?!” Hunk cried out in shock, disbelief evident on his face, which then immediately shifted to protectiveness as he glared around the room, staring down any potential enemy.

 

“Those slimy quiznaks-” Lance started, his hands twitching violently, as if he’d run off and strangle every last one of them with his bare hands if Shiro asked him to. This was the one thing Keith seemed to agree on, because he joined in on the violent hand-twitching, an almost sinister grin appearing on Keith’s face as they brooded together.

 

“I _knew_ something seemed off about them!” Pidge cried out, a snarl in her voice and her fists clenched by her sides.

 

“Now, now, it’s nothing to worry about,” Coran included almost cheerfully, gesturing at them to calm down. It seemed to work at least somewhat, because they returned to their relatively normal expressions, although it was obvious that they were ready to go to war with a flick of the wrist.

 

“For all that they were worth, they apparently hadn’t done much research, if any. The plant they used to poison him was extremely toxic for their species, but for humans, it seems to simply cause a bit of sluggishness, a short period of amnesia immediately after consumption, mild confusion and perhaps drowsiness. Nothing to be alarmed of, however. Number One is doing great, all things considered.” Once again, Coran eyed Shiro, but this time with a hint of pride and contentment. Shiro let out a sigh of relief, and now that the thing that had been bugging him in the back of his mind was gone, it felt like a bit of weight off of his shoulders. This seemed to considerably uplift the mood of everyone else as well, and Lance grinned brightly.

 

“Well, with Shiro on bedrest and all that we’ve been through, I think this calls for a movie night. To the rec room!” He whooped, his long and slender legs letting him blast off before Shiro could even blink. Everyone else cheered, even Keith, and they began to trickle out with grins on their faces. Keith lingered behind, a hand on the doorway as he looked back at Shiro.

 

“Coming?”  


“Yep, hold on,” Shiro grunted, sliding off of the table and landing on the floor with a dull thud. He straightened his posture before striding up to Keith, resting his good hand on his shoulder as he steered them both towards the rec room.

 

“Let’s go have a fun movie night.”

 

And when they came in to find a blanket fort and a god awful 90’s movie projecting on the tv screen, the three that were already there reaching out to cuddle in a group hug pile, Shiro’s lips turned into a content grin.

 

He was so _proud_ of them and everything they had done to save him, even if he only now realized what a dangerous plan they came up with was, and it was a miracle in and of itself that it actually turned out okay. But really, that was just a little technical issue. Nothing he couldn’t work out later. Maybe. Probably.

 

They were the lights of the galaxy. Right now they were small, barely more than a weak flicker in a world filled with darkness, but Shiro knew that they would grow into something more. Those small flickers of lights would turn brighter and brighter, until they were impossible to ignore, engulfing every nook and cranny with their brightness and positivity, chasing out the shadows and evil that lied within.

 

Slowly but surely, the universe was going to become free and peaceful, free of Zarkon’s and any other dictator’s reign.

 

And Shiro was going to follow them every step of the way.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Voltron has sucked me in to the deep end, and I finally forced myself to write and finish a fic in a day. The science and whatnot is probably super off but I'm a special breed of lazy so I'm just going to pretend that it's intentional. ;)  
> I honestly had no idea where I was going with this so the fic is kind of a mess, but future fics should have a bit more structure.  
> (Also I came up with the ending because of the title so it's some symbolic bs woo)  
> (But I'm now tempted to make a mini-series around this honestly)


End file.
